The Smiling Reaper
by KingofthePhantomDragon
Summary: The smiling fool with the power of the Reaper. Sure, why not? Luffy will fight to achieve his dreams and those of his crew and shear all those who would harm his loved ones. LuNa with possible harem. Rated T for language and violence. Rating may change due to possible lemon in future.
1. Chapter 1

Here we are, my first attempt at a One Piece story. I saw Soul Eater and got the idea for the Grim Reaper from that and I thought it might be cool to try to add it to One Piece.

I don't own One Piece.

"Eek! Pirates!"

A young woman cries out over the waltz music as the passenger ship she and the other wealthy were on was bombarded by cannon fire. Off the starboard side a very… feminine ship was unloading its cannons and sending its pirate onto the passenger ship. It's a wonder the guards didn't discover the pirate ship earlier; it was pink, had a swan for a figurehead, and a Jolly Roger with a heart on it.

Needless to say, the passengers and crew were scared beyond belief and were frantically searching for a way out. As the all the pirates began to converge on the dance hall, one lone fat figure stood out of all of them. She was large, portly, freckled, and currently in charge of the situation.

"Alright!" She thundered. "This ship is now under the boot of Captain Alvida and her beauty demands that every single one of you start donate all your valuables to us. Now!"

The hostages had no choice but to do what the pirate hag demanded, all except one. Hidden and now wearing her preferred blue and white shirt and an orange skirt with matching high-heeled boots instead of the weighty dress she subjected herself to wearing in hopes of doing a little pick pocketing with the gentlemen while dancing, an orange haired girl quickly darted to a rope that a pirate swung on to reach the ship and stealthily boarded Alvida's pink ship.

While Alvida was doing the usual pirate business a small, meek looking boy was roaming the halls of the passenger ship. With his square glasses and pink scruffy hair, Coby definitely didn't look like a pirate, yet he's the unfortunate cabin boy for Alvida.

"_Stupid ugly Alvida, if only I can find a way to escape from her fat hands and reach a Marine base."_ Coby deeply sighed while in thought. As he reached the ship's kitchen he noticed a large barrel seemingly out of place. It was still dripping with seawater so Coby could only imagine that the crew of the ship only recently fished it out of the ocean.

Before he could inspect it however three men from Alvida's crew found Coby and made their way to him.

"Hey Coby, what's that you got there?" One of the men asked.

"A barrel that was just laying here. I don't know what's in it though."

"A barrel eh? Must have some booze in it." Another man said. "Let's crack it open and take some swigs."

"I don't think Alvida would like that." Coby warned.

"She's busy with those passengers. Besides, this little drink never leaves this room right?" All three pirates all look at Coby who was furiously nodding in agreement.

"Alright let's break the lid open." The burliest man of the bunch tried his best to pry open the lid but it was stuck. He tried again but still to no avail.

"Grr! this lid's stuck shut." The man complained as he gave the barrel a light kick in his frustration. The other men began discussing who would try next. Noises came from the barrel and Coby stopped in his tracks.

"_Noises? Just what's in there?"_ Coby thought questioningly.

"Hey, Coby, unless you're going to try with those scrawny arms move over."

Coby quickly moved over as another man cracked his knuckles just before he grabbed the lid and pulled.

Suddenly a pillar of blackish-red mist exploded out of the barrel, flinging the pirate across the kitchen and knocking him out. As the dark mist stopped growing, it dissipated to reveal a young man.

He wore a black suit with a red undershirt and a black tie with black slacks and combat boots. He also wore black fingerless leather gloves on his hands. The only thing out of place was the straw hat on his head. His eyes were as black as the midnight sky as was his spiky dark hair. His face was marred by a stitch-like scar under his left eye.

Coby and the other two pirates were scared out of their minds and watched in awe as the new figure yawned and stretched as the dark mist around him finally disappeared.

"Ahh! That was a great nap. Too bad about my boat but at least I lived." The kid joked. He looked around confused as to why he was in a ship and looked at Coby and the two men.

"Hmm? Who are you?"

"THAT'S OUR LINE!" The three exclaimed.

"Oh! I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet ya." Luffy introduced himself with a dramatic bow.

"I don't care who you are ya ass. You're dead." One pirate charged forward with his sword unsheathed.

"Look out Luffy!" Coby couldn't help but scream.

Luffy didn't even look fazed. Just as the man slashed at him, Luffy ducked, grabbed the man's arm, and swung him behind him into the wall. The resulting crash effectively knocked the guy out and made a huge hole in the wall.

The last pirate was already in mid-charge when Luffy was turned around to face him. Luffy dodged to his left and let loose a punch that sent the pirate into another wall.

Coby could only watch with his mouth agape. Here this unknown guy just beat three pirates so easily. He barely noticed when Luffy walked right in front of him and when he did he fell onto his back in shock.

"Ahh! Don't hurt me!" Coby pleaded with his eyes shut.

Luffy looked confused. "Why would I hurt you?"

"Y-you won't?"

"Well you didn't fight me. So no. Anyway is there any food here? I'm so hungry after that long nap I had." Luffy patted his stomach as it growled.

"Well I guess that pantry there has something you can eat." Coby pointed. Luffy smiled widely and grabbed Coby's arm and ran inside. Once inside Luffy instantly found a bag of apples and began to stuff himself, only stopping once in a while to spit cores out.

"So," Luffy said between mouthfuls. "Who are you by the way?"

Coby situated himself on the floor and watched Luffy eat. "My name's Coby."

"Oh. So what are you doing with those pirate guys? You don't look like one."

"Well, I always dreamed of becoming a Marine. But the boat I was on was attacked by Alvida and I was forced to become her cabin boy so she can spare me."

"Oh."

Coby suddenly grew wide-eyed. "Oh no! Alvida!"

"Hmm?" Luffy stopped to look at Coby who looked scared out of his mind.

"If she finds out what happened here we're dead." Coby explained. Luffy still looked on confused and slowly ate more apples.

"Then we'll just get out of here." Luffy said simply. Coby looked at him deadpanned.

"We can't just escape like that Luffy. She'll catch us and then beat us to death with that iron mace of hers."

"Then we'll fight."

"We can't win against her either. We're dead either way."

Luffy finally finished the sack of apples and burped and patted his stomach. "You're a weakling aren't you?"

Coby looked shocked. "W-well I-I umm."

"If you really want to become a Marine and fight pirates, you can't just hide away and run when you have to face them. I'll kick this Alvida's ass."

Coby managed a small smile at Luffy's enthusiasm. "W-well I still think the best way is to find a small boat and sail away without anyone watching. I think there might be one somewhere on this boat-"

"COBY!"

A large holler rang through the halls that shocked Coby. Luffy looked unfazed however and found another sack of apples and started eating those.

"Luffy." Coby shook Luffy. "We have to find a way out of here."

"Oh," Luffy finished his apples before stuffing some in his pockets. "I know. Follow me"

Before Coby could reply, Luffy kicked down the pantry door and found a very fat woman not too far from them.

"Ah! Alvida!" Coby yelled as he hid behind Luffy.

"Coby! Just who is this boy and why are you hiding behind him?" Alvida demanded as she gripped her studded iron mace and plopped it on her shoulder.

"This is Alvida?" Luffy asked while raising a brow. "I thought you called her a she."

"You little insolent pest!" Alvida roared. "Coby! Tell me, who is the most beautiful woman of all the seas and lands?"

Normally Coby would answer that Alvida was the most beautiful, fearing for his life, while Kami knows that's a flat out lie. In his eyes even a whale is more beautiful than her freckled fat face.

"N-not you! You ugly old sea hag!" Coby all but yelled, releasing all his pent of frustration. Alvida looked even more pissed while Luffy laughed.

"Hahahahaha. That's a good one Coby." The straw hat-wearing boy guffawed.

"I'm gonna kill both of ya!" Alvida roared. Before she could even lift her legs Luffy grabbed Coby and raced up the stairs, leaving an angry Alvida to slowly wobble up another flight.

Once Luffy and Coby ran up to the ship's top, Alvida's entire crew was waiting for them, all with their swords and guns ready.

"Ahhh! We're dead." Coby screamed.

Luffy grinned and waved to them. "Hi."

"Get them guys!"

The pirates charged forward with their weapons ready to devastate Luffy who was still grinning ear to ear.

"Stand back Coby." Luffy cracked his neck and got ready to fight. Coby could only nod and gulped as the pirate drew closer.

Luffy reached into his suit and grabbed two handles that appeared in his pockets. He yanked the items out and revealed them to be two pistols. They were unusual pistols that no one could describe, except that they looked like a cross between guns and blades.

(Two Velvet Nightmares like the ones from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.)

Luffy twirled his weapons as the pirates continued their charge. He suddenly vanished and appeared in the center of the crowd. He slashed the gunblades like they were knives, leaving several gashes along their torsos.

"What in the world was that?" Coby asked. Luffy smiled at him and twirled the gunblades before they vanished in a wisp of black smoke.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you. My mother was my island's resident mad scientist. She got ahold of dozens of Devil Fruits and mixed some of their powers together into one. The end result was the Grim-Grim Fruit. I ate it and now I'm the Grim Reaper incarnated. The shadows are my toys. The darkness is my ally. The fires of hell and the lightning of heaven are mine to wield." Luffy declared with his eyes glowing a bloody red while the black-red mist surrounded his body like a miasma.

Coby actually looked scared at what Luffy was really capable of.

Luffy laughed. "You don't have to worry. My power is only to take down my enemies. Not friends." Coby looked relieved after hearing that.

"I'll give you a ticket to hell then!"

Coby barely scrambled away from Alvida's sweating form as she emerged from the deck below. As Luffy turned around she swung her mace right on his head.

Luffy smirked as the mace impacted with his head and sent his body through the floor.

"Luffy!" Coby yelled.

"Ahahahaha." Alvida laughed. "You little runt. Now who's laughing?" She cackled.

"I am." Luffy's voice said. Alvida and her conscious crew turned their heads and saw a black-red mist billow softly from the floor next to where Alvida's mace had struck. From the mist, emerged Luffy. He rose from below the ground like he was a ghost risen from his grave.

"What, what the hell?" Alvida shrieked.

"It'll take more than a big club to take me down. Shishishi." Luffy laughed. He held his arm up and the mist converged into his palm before it solidified. Luffy now wielded an obsidian black staff that was a foot longer than himself with a crescent, double-edged sickle on its end. The back of the sickle was curved so it was shaped like a hook.

It was a scythe, the weapon of the Grim Reaper himself.

Luffy gripped the handle with both hands and cocked his scythe back.

"Lady Alvida!" The pirates yelled.

Coby looked on wordlessly as Luffy unleashed his attack.

"**Shadow Scythe!"** Luffy slashed and the staff struck Alvida in the stomach with enough force that sent the woman flying into the sky.

"Ugh." Luffy patted his stomach as some sweat rolled down his face. "So hungry."

"Luffy, that was amazing!" Coby gleamed. By now all the pirates were frozen in their places and only watched the two boys talk.

"Hahaha. Well," Luffy turned to the pirates. "Anyone of you guys know where we can find a small boat?"

Before the pirates could respond a flurry of cannonballs flew into the ship, rocking the pink ship.

"What was that?" Luffy and Coby were hurrying to their feet and Coby's eyes lit up at the sight of a Marine ship.

"It's the Marines. Wow. I never saw as ship in action before!"

Luffy jumped onto a dinghy and yelled for Coby to hurry.

Coby jumped on and they released the ropes suspending it into the air as the boat dropped 40 feet, crashing into the water. As the boat landed onto the water, it surprised an orange-haired girl that was securing a large bag of gold to her own little boat. She let out a small yelp as she looked at the person who caused it. Their eyes met and time seemed to have stop for a couple seconds before everything went back to normal. However, the girl didn't notice a cannonball coming towards her, when she did notice however; it was about 30 feet from hitting her directly.

Luffy noticed this and narrowed his eyes as it approached the woman. He suddenly vanished in a burst of black-red smoke before re-appearing between the girl and the cannonball.

Luffy effortlessly cut the cannonball in two and sent the pieces back flying at the ships, one piece smashing through two ships and causing them to sink and the other completely obliterated the remaining ship.

"Marines firing at a defenseless girl? I hardly call that fair." Luffy said with his back still facing the girl.

The orange-haired girl just looked at the person standing in front of her and then the wreckage of the 3 massive marine ships.

"_Did he just destroy 3 marine ships without even trying?"_ She thought. She just looked at the back of the boy standing in front of her, his broad shoulders making him look more intimidating, his raven hair all messy, the straw hat dangling from his neck with his massive and vicious-looking scythe in his hand. She kept staring at him admiringly until she remembered the situation she was just in.

"Th-thanks for saving me just then." She managed to muster out.

Luffy slowly turned around and gave a heart-warming smile to the girl. He looked at her and stared right into her eyes. He was just staring at them, lost in their gaze. He managed to gain back his senses and replied,

"Oh no problem, you should be more careful next time." He said while smiling at her again.

This caused the orange-haired girl to blush from both embarrassment and thinking that the boy who had just saved her was cute. She simply nodded and he smiled yet again which made her heart flutter. He teleported back to his boat.

"Well I'll see you later, bye." He said while walking to sit down in his boat and lowered the sail.

She managed to wave at the boy as she was still staring at him still amazed at his strength. _"__Get yourself together! You have to stay focused on your goal remember!?"_She mentally slapped herself as she finished securing her treasure and began sailing off.

(With Luffy and Coby, many hours later)

Coby took in the sight of the new island. He knew there was a Marine base situated here and supposedly the bounty hunter Roranoa Zolo was being kept here.

"Well I think there's another person who could join your crew Luffy."

"Who's that Coby?"

"On this island there's a bounty hunter called Roranoa Zolo. He's a swordsman but he hunts pirates for a living so I don't think…"

"Cool!" Luffy exclaimed. "Let's find him and ask."

"Wait Luffy!" Coby yelled as Luffy ran off towards the town.

By the time Coby caught up to Luffy the straw hat-wearing boy had already absentmindedly asked some of the townsfolk if they know where Zolo was being held.

"Excuse me. Do you know where Zolo is?"

Before Luffy could finish, the people around him had run off. Luffy looked confused.

"What did I do wrong?"

"I guess they don't like talking about Zolo." Coby concluded.

"Oh well, let's see if we can find him ourselves."

Soon the two did find Zolo, just not in the state they expected. He was bloodied and tied on a cross to the left of the seaside Marine base. Luckily there was no one patrolling the area so Luffy and Coby jumped, or in Coby's case was thrown, over the fence so they could get a closer look at the bounty hunter.

Besides the blood and grit on his body, Zolo also looked famished and overall tired. He wore a dirty white shirt and black pants. On his head he wore a green bandana that sort of covered his mint colored hair and on his left ear were three gold earrings for some odd reason. His breaths were deep and he gave Luffy a glare as he approached him.

"Get out of here." Zolo heaved.

"Nope. You wanna join my crew?"

Coby nearly tripped at Luffy's bluntness while Zolo looked shocked.

"You kidding me, right? Do I look like that kind of person? Do you even know who I am?"

"Yep," answered Luffy. "And I don't really care. I want you on my crew."

Zolo looked down to Coby. "Hey kid, is this guy right in the head?"

Coby shrugged. "I don't really know. He's strong though."

"Aren't you supposed to be a swordsman? Where's your swords?" Luffy asked.

"If I had my swords I wouldn't be TIED HERE WOULD I?" Zolo exclaimed as Luffy's stupidity.

"Hahahaha," Luffy laughed. "You're pretty funny. You're definitely on my crew now."

"Umm excuse me?"

All three guys looked behind Luffy and Coby to find a little girl with pigtails holding some rice balls.

"Umm, these are for you Zolo. I made them for you and you looked really hungry." The little girl said meekly.

"Umm Luffy I think we should leave them for a minute." Coby proposed to a salivating Luffy.

"Aw why? Those rice balls look good." Luffy pouted before begrudgingly pulled aside by Coby

"You shouldn't be here Rika. If they find you here they'll kill you and me." Zolo said. Rika didn't back off though and offered one to Zolo's mouth.

"Hey, you little brat!"

The four of them looked over and saw a purple suit-wearing blonde stroll towards them with a few Marines behind him.

"Can't you read the sign outside the fence you little squirt? Anyone caught here will face the same punishment as the criminal here. Are you really going to risk your life to-Ooh rice balls."

The blond grabbed the one in front of Zolo's face and took a bite.

"Yeuck! Disgusting." The man threw it to the ground and stomped it flat and grinded it into the dirt just for good measure.

"Now just what should we do with you girlie?" The blond asked more to himself than the Marines behind him. "One of you, throw this girl over the fence."

"But Helmeppo, she's just a girl."

"I don't care! Father will get angry with you if I don't get what I want. And do you want my father angry?" Helmeppo said. That effectively shut the Marines up and one slowly walked up to the girl.

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to find Luffy walking towards them with Coby right behind him. Coby saw Luffy actually angry for the first time and opted to stay back as Luffy walked up to Helmeppo.

"It's not nice to make a little girl cry." Luffy said as a teary-eyed Rika watched on.

"And just who do you think you are, commoner?" Helmeppo asked.

"And it's not nice to make Marines do bad things." Coby piped up.

"Do you know who I am you fools? If my dad were here he would kill you right away!" Helmeppo exclaimed while looking furious though to everyone else he looked rather frightened. "I don't even know why he's still here. If were up to me he would be dead already."

That really ticked Luffy off and the Grim Reaper punched the blonde snob clear in the face, leaving a circular red mark.

"Ahhh! My face!" Helmeppo screamed as he rubbed his sore nose and cheeks. "Run! Get out of here!"

The Marines and Helmeppo made a beeline right to the Marine base as Zolo and the rest watched.

"Bastard." Luffy said as he turned to Zolo. "So, join my crew Zolo! "

"Just who are you anyways?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna be the next King of the Pirates." Luffy bravely announced, not caring that the man he was talking to was a well-known pirate hunter.

"And just why do you think I want to join a pirate crew?" Zolo inquired.

"Hmm, well it's either you join me and go on fun adventures and fight strong guys or stay here and die." Luffy put it bluntly.

"Heh, you make a great point." Zolo joked. "Fine, if you can get my swords back, I'll join you. Deal Luffy?"

Luffy laughed and smiled. "Deal Zolo." He then ran off towards the Marine base, figuring that the swords should be in there.

"Wow, is that guy your friend?" Rika asked as she rubbed the tears off her eyes. Coby nodded.

"Yeah, anyways you should get out of here before something bad will happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just have a feeling."

(In the Marine Base)

"Who did this to you son?"

"Some stupid straw hat wearing kid. And he was with that Zolo guy outside too."

Helmeppo was still crying about the punch Luffy gave him and went right to his father for help. Not a bad choice considering his dad is the Marine Captain Morgan, the tall, large, bulky, burly, tan, and blonde captain who was ruthless on the battlefield with his ax that was actually a replacement for his hand.

"Roronoa eh? Wait here. Marines! Form up!" Morgan yelled and quickly a number of Marines formed behind him with weapons in tow. With Morgan in the lead, the group marched out towards where Zolo and Coby were.

"Hahaha, those idiots never stood a chance against father." Helmeppo quipped as he walked up several flights of stairs and to his room.

"I mean I almost feel sorry for those- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Helmeppo yelped as he saw Luffy climbing through his open window.

"Whew, now where are those swords? Ah here they are?" Luffy smirked as he saw three swords lying next to Helmeppo's bed.

"I-I s-s-said, what are you d-d-doing h-here?" Helmeppo all but whimpered as Luffy scratched his chin, not noticing Helmeppo in the room.

"Umm, does he have two swords or are all three of these his? Ah who cares I'll take them all." Luffy grabbed all three and they vanished in a wisp of black smoke before he jumped out the open window.

Helmeppo was now in deeper shock after witnessing Luffy's power. He had snot dribbling down his upper lip and his eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Oh no! Father!"

The blond raced down the stairs and hurried to warn his father.

(Execution Courtyard)

"Hurry up Coby. They're coming now." Zolo urged. After exchanging formalities for a second Coby worked on trying to untie Zolo's ropes. Unfortunately he only managed to tie the ropes on tighter.

"What? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Coby cried.

Unfortunately by then Morgan and his Marines had reached the two.

"What the hell do you think you're doing whelp?" Morgan asked a now shaking Coby. Zolo looked more pissed than scared as Morgan turned his gaze towards the swordsman.

"I should've killed you that day. But watching you starve was good while it was funny. Too bad this runt tried to help you cause you're both dead now. Marines!" Morgan pointed at the two.

"_Shit! So close to escaping too!"_ Zolo thought.

"_I should've known I would never become a Marine. Now I'm about to be killed by them,"_ Coby thought.

"Fire!"

Just as the Marines unleashed a volley of bullets Morgan heard a voice from above.

"Whoa! I got your swords Zolo!"

Luffy was still in the air from jumping off the Marine base and landed in front of the bullets.

"Idiot!" Zolo yelled.

"Luffy!" Coby cried out.

"Hehe." Luffy chuckled. **"****Shadow Scythe****"**

Dark fog flowed out of Luffy's hands and formed into his scythe. He twirled the weapon and deflected the bullets back towards the Marines, wounding several and grazing Morgan's cheek.

"What the Hell!?" Everyone but Luffy screamed while Luffy laughed to himself.

"By the way, I didn't know which sword was yours so I grabbed them all." Luffy held out his free hand and the three swords Zolo had grown to love and use appeared in his grip.

"Just what the hell are you Luffy?" Zolo asked as Coby gathered his swords.

"I ate the Grim-Grim Fruit, a fruit made from dozens of other fruits by my mother." Luffy said.

"Is that so?" Morgan said. "If guns won't work. Then swords will. Men, charge!"

The Marines looked way too scared to fight the Reaper but one look at their ferocious leader was all the push they needed to charge, even if it was half-assed.

"Hmm?" Luffy said. "Oh you gotta be kidding me." Luffy sighed before he slashed with his scythe and sent nearly a dozen Marines flying. After some screaming the remaining men turned tail and either ran or jumped out of the way.

"Shishishi, no problem." Luffy joked. He slammed the butt of his scythe down only to find an angry Morgan hunched over him and his ax arm rose to strike Luffy down.

"Damn, Coby! Give me my swords!" Zolo shouted.

"But your hands-"

"Unsheathe one and but the hilt in my mouth sideways." Zolo demanded as Morgan's ax flew down.

Coby had no time to argue against Zolo's logic but once he did what he was told he realized he didn't need to. Immediately Zolo cut through his bindings and even got his other two swords unsheathed. And just as Morgan's ax was about to meet Luffy's head, Zolo rushed forward and blocked the weapon with his three swords.

"Nice moves, Zolo. Thanks." Luffy commented.

"No problem, Captain." Zolo said.

Morgan was not ready to give up yet and he threw his fist forward to punch Luffy.

"Nope. Not gonna work." Luffy dodged the punch and dove towards the captain's axe-hand.

The giant man's eyes widened when Luffy's hand went through his flesh and came out the other end with something that Morgan never thought he would see.

Luffy was currently wielding the axe that had been inserted into his arm that made him known as Axe-hand Morgan.

"YAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Morgan screamed as blood burst from his now open stump. Luffy teleported behind him and slammed his heel into the back of Morgan's head, sending him into the bliss of unconsciousness.

"Wow, nice job Luffy." Zolo said while grabbing his sheathes off the ground and sheathing his swords. "We should leave now before more Marines dock here. No doubt someone in the base called a ship already."

"Okay, before we leave though." Luffy reached out and grabbed a random Marine. "Ahhh! W-what do you want?" He whimpered.

"When the next Marine ship gets here, you mind putting Coby on there as a new recruit or something? He really wants to join you guys." Luffy asked politely. The Marine furiously nodded and when Luffy dropped him the man fainted.

"Huh. Well Coby you can join the Marines now. When you get on the ship, say that you need to meet with Garp. Tell him I sent you and you'll get stronger in no time." Luffy said. Coby couldn't help but to cry a little at the great news.

"Thank you Luffy! I'll never forget this, ever." Coby said.

"This means we'll be enemies in the future though." Luffy said. Coby gasped but realized it was the truth.

"Yeah, but next time when we fight I'll be much stronger." Coby proudly said.

"Hahaha, I'll look forward to it. Good luck. And you should probably drag that guy back." Luffy pointed out. "Anyways, bye!"

Luffy raced off towards where the little boat was docked with Zolo right behind him. Coby watched them for a bit before walking over to the man and dragging him back to the base by his leg.

"Gosh he's heavy. I hope I won't have to lift weights when I start training."

As he reached the front door he opened it and dragged the man to what he assumed was the infirmary. After he was done putting the guy on a bed, he left and once he reached the stairs he tripped. Looking down he found a knocked out Helmeppo with a large comical bump on his head.

"Must have tripped running down these stairs." Coby guessed. Sighing, he grabbed Helmeppo's legs and retraced his steps back to the infirmary.

That's a wrap for chapter one, people. A few of my buddies at Army basic asked me to put this up when they read it from a notebook that I used. This is dedicated to them and all that they're doing for our freedom.

Please review and send me some constructive critisizm.


	2. The Navigator and the Circus

Wow, I never thought that I'd get such a positive feedback for this story. Honestly, it was just something that popped into my head after watching an episode of Soul Eater. Death the Kid put me in stitches after hearing his symmetry rants.

**I owe an apology to Virajpatel for using a bit of his story for my first chapter without permission. It was a mistake on my part and I can't even begin to say how embarrassed I am for it. I will not use any more of your story, not even a reference to add to this story without asking. And I appreciate you accepting my apology and your kind words.**

I will put up a list of the women in Luffy's harem at the end of the chapter and I will put the ones that are suggested into consideration.

**Crofty666**: The fruits used were explained in the following chapter. Know that some, if not all of them, were pulled out of my ass.

**VeryBigBrain:** I'm sorry but I'm just too used to Zolo.

I hope you enjoy and know that I own nothing.

(Many miles away from Marine Base Island)

Luffy and Zolo drifted calmly with the tide towards their next adventure.

"Hey Luffy. Where did you get that Devil Fruit and what are all of its powers?" Zolo asked.

Luffy adjusted his hat so that it was placed on his head instead of his eyes.

"I'll answer your question with another question. Have you ever heard of the Reaper of the Revolution?" He asked.

Zolo adopted a puzzled look but answered. "Mostly rumors. Supposedly, he's a demon in human skin. Only the strongest of the strong in the East Blue have heard of him. He vanished a year ago and hasn't been heard of since. I know he wields a scythe that can shear two Marine flagships in half with one slash and he wears a trademark straw hat." He finished.

Luffy just smiled and waited for Zolo to get hit by the realization.

Zolo sat there, waiting for Luffy to get to the point so he could get his original question answered. He then though of what he just said.

His scream of "WAIT, WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTT!?" could be heard for miles.

Luffy laughed until he saw something in the sky.

"Look, it's a bird. Alright! MEAT!" He shouted. His feet were shrouded by his Grim Mist and he was rocketed into the air.

Zolo just watched as Luffy shot up into the air.

"_I can't believe this. I'm the first mate of the Reaper of the Revolution. Does that mean I'm part of the Revolutionary Army?"_ Zolo wondered before a scream disrupted his thoughts.

"ZOLO, IT'S BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT!" Luffy screamed. His head was in the giant bird's beak and he was trying to wrench it out.

"LUFFY, YOU IDIOT! GIVE ME BACK MY CAPTAIN, YOU DAMN BIRD!" Zolo roared as he rowed the oars withal his might towards the direction of the bird's heading.

(Meanwhile, Orange Town)

The orange-haired young woman ran for her life through the deserted town as three clown-like pirates chased her with their swords drawn. In her hand, was a rolled up parchment, which was apparently the reason for their pursuit.

"_Dammit! How could I have slipped up like I did?"_ She mentally swore.

"Fuck this! Shoot her legs!" One shouted. The other two pulled out their pistols and took aim.

"_Oh no!"_ She thought and braced herself for the pain, only for an object to crash on the ground between them.

"Ouch." A voice said from within the dust cloud. A silhouette of a young man with a hat stood from the crater. "I wonder where that bird dropped me. Well, hopefully Zolo can follow me." He said.

The smoke cleared and the girl's eyes widened when she saw the boy from the day before. Straw hat, suit, and everything.

He turned his curious gaze to her and his eyes lit up in recognition when he saw her. "Hey, you're that lady from Alvida's ship." He said excitedly.

"Uh h-hi." She said nervously. Here was the charming guy who saver her from a cannon ball and now he literally just fell from the sky to save her again.

"So you're her boss? Cap'n Buggy'll reward us big-time to bring him in." The lead thug boasted.

"These guys are Buggy pirates and I kinda stole a map from them. Could you help me, please?" She pleaded with the female-and-children-usable-only puppy-dog eyes.

Luffy's response was to grin so wide that the girl feared his face would split in half. "No problem, this'll take just a sec." He said before turning to the three pirates.

Luffy held out his hand and his Shadow Scythe formed, much to the surprise and horror of the Buggy Pirates.

"**Grim Gale!"** Luffy yelled as he slashed his scythe horizontally. A black-tinted wind burst from where he slashed and the wind grew until it blew the pirates off their feet and sent them flying towards the coast.

"Well, that was a letdown." He muttered as he twirled the scythe and slammed the butt down.

"That was awesome!" The girl shouted. "I've never seen a scythe used as a weapon in these times." She said excitedly.

"My mom made it for me. I'm Luffy. What's your name?" He asked.

She was startled for a moment but then she smiled. "My name's Nami. And I'm a pirate thief." She announced proudly.

"That's interesting. But I think I'd care more if I had some food." He said while rubbing his roaring stomach.

Nami sweat dropped at the sound of the roar. "Come on, I can get us into one of these houses and we can raid it for some food." She said and pointed towards town.

Luffy shrieked like a monkey and wrapped his arm around Nami's waist before sprinting towards the town with Nami screaming for him to stop or put her down.

(The Docks)

The three pirate thugs were bowed in submission before their captain. He was a man with clown make-up and a clown-variant pirate garb. The most noticeable feature about him was his large red nose.

"So three of my crew was beaten by a single punk in a suit? And the worst part is that you let the woman get away." He growled.

"But cap'n Buggy, the guy made a scythe appear out of thin air and it blew us away before we knew what was happening." One complained.

Buggy stopped his angry pacing and glared at them with shaky eyes.

"D-Did you say a scythe?" He demanded.

"Y-Y-Yes sir. He yelled out "**Grim Gale" **and swung the scythe and it made a gust of wind that blew us away."

Buggy immediately turned away and walked towards his quarters. _"The Reaper is here!? I thought he vanished a year ago. If he's involved, then the Revolution might be too. This island might be under their protection but I don't think there's anything here worth a fuss about to them."_ Captain Buggy thought in a mild panic as he entered his quarters.

(Meanwhile)

"So you don't live here?" Luffy asked. He ate the last bit of food on his plate and gazed at the pretty orangette.

"No. I like the name though. This place is under siege from those pirates and the people fled to the other side of the island." She explained with a noticeable bite in her voice when she said pirates.

Luffy noticed her subtle hatred and narrowed his eyes a bit but said nothing.

"By the way, would you be interested in helping me out. I'll make sure to split the treasure with you." She said pleadingly.

Luffy just stood up. "Nope." He said before heading for the exit.

"Awww. Why not?" She whined.

Luffy stopped and turned to her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Because you'd rob me after I fought and killed Buggy. You said you're a pirate thief, after all." He said.

Nami looked confused for a moment before her gaze hardened. "You're a pirate." She accused him.

Luffy took notice of the subtle movement of her arm. Figuring she had a weapon, he grinned in his childish manner. "Yep! I'm the pirate who's gonna build the best crew in the world and find One Piece." He declared with a heroic pose.

She looked at him perplexed for a moment until she just shook her head and relaxed. "Well, if you're a pirate, then forget my offer."

"Say, what were those guys trying to get from you?" Luffy asked curiously.

Nami smiled again and pulled a rolled-up parchment from behind her. "This is a map of the Grand Line. Probably the only one in the East Blue."

Luffy's eyes widened comically. "So you're a navigator!?" He asked excitedly.

Nami smiled proudly. "Probably the best that you'll ever find."

"Then you should join my crew. I've got no experience with navigation and neither does my first mate." He shouted.

"No way." She yelled.

"Aww. But why?" He whined.

"WHAT PART OF "PIRATE THIEF" ARE YOU NOT GETTING HERE!?" She shouted with shark-like teeth.

"So? My first mate hunted pirates and now he's a pirate." Luffy said.

Nami looked at him in mute astonishment.

"I can tell you've been wronged by a pirate before. But not all pirates are like them. I want to sail across the world, meet new people, go on adventures, and experience true freedom. That's what the pirate, Shanks, taught me."

"Shanks? The Pirate Emperor, "Red-hair" Shanks? You know him?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, he used my home island as his headquarters for a few years. He taught me how a real pirate is supposed to act. Real pirates have dreams and are supposed to do everything in their power to make those dreams come. I want to find One Piece and become King of the Pirates. What's your dream?" He asked.

Nami just sat there, her mind a tsunami of thoughts.

Luffy brought her out of it. "On second thought, don't tell me yet. I know you're robbing pirates for a reason. You don't go after bloodthirsty monster's berry for kicks. Whatever you're getting this money for must be very important to you." He said softly.

Nami looked away to get escape his soul-searing gaze.

"Tell you what, we'll work together to get rid of this Buggy guy and you can keep the treasure. I don't need it and you can't take on Buggy by yourself. What do you say?" He offered.

After a minute, Nami glanced back at him and nodded her head.

Luffy grinned again. "Great! What's the plan?" He asked.

"Why are you asking me?" She said exasperatedly.

"Cause I can't make plans. I'm the muscle and the blade, not the brain. You're obviously smart, so you make the plan." He decided.

Nami blushed at his unintentional compliment and smirked at him with a sinister glint in her eyes.

"Here's the plan…"

(One hour later)

Luffy found himself tied up and locked in a cage that barely allowed him to move.

"_Someone's getting their ass kicked for this."_ He mentally growled.

"I can't believe that I was actually worried about you?" Buggy shouted. "The Reaper of the Revolution is just a snot-nosed little brat."

Luffy enviously watched as the Buggy pirates ate and drank in celebration for their new "crewmate", Nami.

Said girl snuck over to Luffy's cage. "How you holding up?" She asked.

"I'm hog-tied in a tiny-ass cage, I'm starving, and they're eating delicious-looking food right in front of me, I'm just peachy." He said with sarcasm.

"Saying your goodbyes to your old boss Nami?" Buggy guffawed. Somehow, he had snuck up on both of them.

"I was just letting him know what an idiot he is, Captain." Nami's heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Well then, its time I told you your fate! And let me tell ya', it's going to be a BLAST!" the entire crew cheered at Buggy's pun.

"So you're going to let me go!" Luffy said stupidly.

"Yes! I'm going to let you go!" Everyone blinked a few times before Buggy realized what he had said, "NO I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU GO! Boys, prepare the special Buggy cannonballs. I think a little demolition is in order!"

The crew hustled to get a cannon on deck that aimed for the town. A random crewman came on deck and loaded the cannon with a red cannonball with the Buggy Pirates Jolly Roger stamped on it.

"What's that, Captain Buggy?" Nami asked with genuine curiosity.

Buggy grinned sadistically and fired the cannon.

The explosion from the cannon blast deafened Nami for a moment but she was distracted by the resulting destruction. Several blocks of buildings were utterly demolished and the cannonball finally stopped after it destroyed a mountain in the distance.

Nami's blood froze in her veins. This wasn't in her plans. Use Luffy as bait, get them drunk, free Luffy, and take the treasure. Clean and simple. The cannonball that could level cities wasn't in the plans.

"Your turn, Nami. Prove your loyalty and kill your old boss." Buggy demanded and held a lighter out for her.

Nami looked at Luffy like she was pleading for help. The straw-hat wearing Reaper just winked at her and nodded discreetly.

Nami swallowed the lump in her throat and took the lighter.

With much hesitation, she lit the fuse and watched as it slowly burned out until it reached the cannon.

She felt her heart stop when it burned out suddenly.

"What?" Buggy shouted.

Nami lit the fuse again, only for a black blur to pass by it and sever the fuse again.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" Buggy screamed.

"I don't know." Luffy answered with his giant grin on his face.

Nami blanched at him. _"Can he be any more obvious?"_ She wondered. Then she realized everyone's attention was on him and snuck away while she could.

"What's with that smile? What did you do!?" The clown pirate demanded.

"What can I do? I'm tied up in a cage, big nose." Luffy said cheekily.

Everyone froze and the pirate crew all paled almost instantly.

Buggy's hat shadowed his eyes until his lifted his head, revealing his rage-filled eyes. "WHAT…DID…YOU…SAY!?" He snarled out.

"Shishishishishi." Luffy snickered. "Shanks told me all about how you hated when you nose was made fun of."

"SHANKS!? How do you know that red-haired bastard!?" Buggy shouted. He then noticed Luffy's hat. "Wait a minute. You're his protégé. He would only trust his protégé with that hat, like Captain Roger trusted him with it."

Luffy smirked and his body began to billow out his Grim Mist.

Nami snuck on deck just in time to see the rope fall off Luffy's body and he stood up. The crew screamed like girls when Luffy's body phased through the cage like he was a ghost.

"That's right. Shanks taught me what it means to be a pirate just like Gold Roger taught the both of you. What happened to make you into the cutthroat monster you are now, Buggy?" Luffy asked.

Buggy growled and whipped his arms out, sliding several throwing knives in-between his fingers. "I woke up, brat. That kind of shit got the captain killed so I decided to make my own path." He then noticed Nami with a large bag of gold, sneaking off the ship. "Stop her!" He shouted.

Nami started and screamed when the sword blades descended on her.

There was a sound of metal striking metal instead of flesh.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a young man with three swords blocking all the pirate's attacks.

"Hey Zolo, what took ya'? Luffy shouted with a friendly wave.

"Shut up! You're the one who jumped up to chase after a giant bird!" He yelled back. He threw the pirates off and stood in front of Nami.

"She with us?" He asked his captain.

"Kinda. I'm still working on her." Luffy answered.

Zolo glanced at Buggy and his gaze hardened. "Get outta the way, Captain, unless you wanna get diced." Zolo warned his friend.

Luffy grinned. "Go for it, buddy."

Zolo jumped on deck and glared at Buggy with his swords glinting in the sunlight. The crew didn't do anything, except smile, which made Luffy wary.

"Captain! That green haired guy is the Pirate Hunter Zolo!" one of Buggy's Pirates had recognized Zolo.

"So you're Roronoa Zolo huh?" Buggy asked calmly.

"Yeah. I am," Zolo looked at Buggy.

"I see! Then you must be aiming for my head then?" Buggy chuckled, mocking Zolo.

"No. I quit Pirate Hunting. I have a different aim now and can't waste my time hunting down weaklings." Zolo announced.

"Well, this trash wants to waste time on you. If I kill you, I'll become more famous," Buggy swung his knives dangerously.

Buggy's crew began to chuckle to themselves, "Yeah! Cut down Roronoa, Captain!"

"Your funeral." Zolo said without interest.

The two Pirates moved in a flash.

Buggy's corpse fell apart into three separate pieces.

"_What a weakling? Was I really afraid of this guy?_" Nami wondered, still feeling queasy from looking at the cut up bodies.

Zolo sheathed his swords and walked over to Luffy. "Did you get the bird?" He mocked.

"Don't patronize me, and something's off," Luffy made note of the other Pirates still chuckling to themselves.

"So they lost it? Maybe we can use this ship for ourselves. Any of you freaks got a problem with that?" Zolo threatened only to receive more chuckling. "You're right. There's something wrong"

"Zolo! Behind you!" Luffy screamed.

Zolo turned around to feel an immense pain in his stomach. Looking at his gut, he found a hand with a knife sticking to him. Blood seeped out and stained his shirt.

The Pirates erupted into laughter.

"Hehehehehe! The worst enemy of the swordsman, the Chop-Chop man." Buggy announced. His body pieces were hovering in mid-air. The hand flew over to the body and the whole thing re-attached itself.

"I ate the Chop-Chop fruit. No swordsman could ever beat me!" Buggy boasted.

"YOU WANNA BET, YOU FAT-NOSED FREAK!?" Luffy roared and summoned his scythe.

The crew quieted again and Buggy was surrounded by a dark aura. "WHO HAS A ROUND NOSE!? DIE A FLASHY DEATH!" He roared and charged at Luffy.

Luffy surprised them all by grabbing and flipping the cannon over so it was facing them.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH! THE BUGGY BALL IS STILL INSIDE!" Buggy and his crew screamed and threw themselves overboard.

After a moment, nothing happened. Buggy jumped off the body he used as a floatation device to the upper deck and saw Luffy with Zolo on his back and a Buggy ball under his arm. Nami was right beside him with a bag of his treasure over her shoulder. Both were running through the town.

"DAMMIT! THEY HAVE A BUGGY BALL, MY MAP, AND MY TREASURE! ALL OF YOU, GET THEM BACK OR YOU'LL ALL DIE A FLASHY DEATH!" Buggy shrieked.

(With Luffy and Nami)

"Okay. I stopped the bleeding but you need to take it easy." Nami advised Zolo.

"I'll sleep on it." He said and headed for the house behind them.

Nami looked around and saw Luffy sitting next to a white dog, who was receiving a nice scratching behind his ears by the raven-haired dunce.

She then noticed the cannonball under his arm. "Luffy, why did you grab a Buggy Ball!?" She asked.

"I'm gonna send it to my mom. She's gonna love studying this thing and she'll send me back her own version of it with cookies." He began drooling when he said cookies.

Nami couldn't help but smile at him after hearing that.

"Hey, who are you people!?" An elderly voice shouted. They turned to the entrance of the house and saw an old man with a spear and brown, fuzzy body armor.

"We're pirates." Luffy said, only for Nami to punch him on the top of his head.

"I'M NOT WITH THEM!" She screamed with her "demon head".

"_OW! How the hell did she hit me?"_ Luffy wondered as he rubbed his head.

"Regardless, what are you doing with Chouchou!?" He demanded and pointed at the dog.

"Petting him." Luffy said simply. He continued to scratch the dog's ears, earning him a wagging tail.

The old man looked at Luffy with astonishment. "Unbelievable. Chouchou wouldn't take so kindly to an average person, let alone a pirate." He said.

"You think he can sense that Luffy's an idiot?" Nami asked.

"HEY!" Luffy shouted indignantly.

"It's more like he can sense the goodness in him." The man said. He then turned to Nami. "I'm Boodle, the mayor of this town." He introduced himself.

"Oh, I'm Nami, that's Luffy, and the guy sleeping in the house is Zolo." She said. Nami then turned to Luffy and Chouchou. "You mind explaining the dog's story?" She asked.

"Chouchou's late owner ran the pet food store behind them. He fell to disease and Chouchou guards the store, day and night, like he's waiting for his master to come back to him."

"Does he know?" She asked.

"He knows," Luffy interjected. "He's just guarding his treasure. Like I treasure my hat for the memories that I share with Shanks, he protects the store to protect the memories of his master." He said and the white pup licked his cheek before padding to the door and sitting down.

Mayor Boodle looked at Luffy with fascination until the silence was broken by a loud bestial roar.

"Luffy, please tell me that was your stomach." Nami pleaded.

"Sorry." He said and pulled out his Velvet Nightmares. He twirled the guns a couple times before a large shape crashed into the street.

The dust cleared to reveal a giant green-furred lion with a lavender mane. On its neck was a man with a matching mane around his own head.

"Where's the Reaper!?" He demanded.

"Who's askin'?" Luffy snapped back.

"I'm Mohji the beast tamer and this is Richie." The man announced.

His mood was brought down by the sound of a snicker. He looked down and saw Luffy and Nami trying to hold in their laughter.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!?" He demanded.

"That h-hat looks hehehe r-ridiculous." Luffy managed to get out.

"IT'S NOT A HAT, IT'S MY HAIR!" He roared.

This information caused Luffy and Nami to lose it. Both were openly cackling at him and pounding the ground with tears cascading down their faces.

"GRRRRR! KILL THEM, RICHIE!" He yelled.

Luffy and Nami sobered up and Luffy pushed Nami out of the way as the giant paw descended.

He jumped and phased through the paw. Luffy ended up beside Mohji in mid-air and aimed for his head.

Nami's pupils shrank when Luffy pulled the trigger.

A loud bang echoed through the street and Mohji's head jerked backwards before he flew off the lion. Luffy holstered his guns and summoned his scythe. With a vicious slash, he hooked Richie's torso and sent him through several buildings before he could do anything to avenge his master.

Luffy landed on the ground as Mohji's body slumped beside him.

"L-Luffy, you…" Nami gasped.

"He's alive, Nami." Luffy said before dismissing his Shadow Scythe.

Nami started but looked at the body to see the man's chest slowly rising and falling.

Luffy glanced at the building behind them and saw Zolo staggering out. "I was afraid that big kitty was gonna wake you. Sorry I didn't kick its ass fast enough." He said.

"Thanks for being considerate." The swordsman grumbled out.

"I think it's time to take this fight back to the clown, don't you?" He asked and put his hands in his pockets.

Zolo checked his swords and walked over to his captain.

Luffy kneeled down and whistled. Chouchou happily padded over to him and received a final petting. "You keep guarding your treasure, pup. You've already done your master proud." He said as he stood and started walking.

Nami quickly joined them with her bo-staff out.

The mayor just watched them with a perplexed expression on his face. _"What kind of a mayor am I? I can't just let these children fight my battles. This town was built from forty years of sweat, blood, and tears and I can't just let these kids fight for us."_ He mentally declared and fled towards where the villagers were gathered.

(With Luffy, Zolo, and Nami)

The three were casually walking towards the ship when they were blocked by a man riding on a unicycle with a sword.

"Greetings. I'm Cabaji, Captain Buggy's second mate. I wish to challenge Roronoa Zolo." He said like it was an everyday thing to challenge a swordsman.

"I got this, Luffy, you deal with the clown." Zolo said.

Luffy and Nami continued their trek. "Nami, while we're dealing with Buggy and his crew, you get below deck and finish lightening their load." He said. She nodded and moved away from him when he approached Buggy.

"So, you decided to come and die like a man, eh?" He smirked with his sinister voice.

Luffy merely stood there and raised his hand. He surprised everyone by flipping the clown the bird.

Growling, Buggy charged at Luffy with his knives out. The Reaper called out his scythe and slashed.

Buggy separated his torso from his waist to dodge. "You idiot, I already told you I can't be beaten by a swordsman. What makes you think a sickle would do you any better!?" He cackled.

Luffy's answer was to grip the shaft and flip it underhanded. He winded up like a golf player and swung.

A loud thud echoed through the air and Buggy suddenly learned how to sing soprano.

"Asshole-in-one." Luffy said with his grin in place.

He heard a chuckle and giggle from behind him. He turned around and saw Zolo, his previous wound bleeding again, and Nami, with two large bags of treasure behind her.

"That was brilliant. Did you just make that up?" Zolo asked.

"Actually yes, I did." Luffy laughed until he felt something whoosh over his head and heard a shredding sound.

Zolo and Nami's eyes widened in outrage, much to Luffy's confusion until he felt his head and found only his hair.

"If you really valued this hat so much, you should protect it better." Buggy cackled as he threw the cut hat to the ground.

The Reaper dismissed his Shadow Scythe and lowered his head so his eyes were covered by his hair.

Nami was about to say something when Zolo stopped her. "His treasure was just desecrated. This fight became personal on a whole new level." He said.

Luffy's body began seeping his Grim Mist and the ship began to shake. The boy snapped his head up to reveal his eyes.

Nami covered her mouth to muffle her gasp.

Luffy's eyes had vanished, revealing two empty voids of darkness.

"Awww. What's the matter, little brat? Did I piss you off?" Buggy goaded.

Luffy said nothing as he held out his left hand and surprised his First Mate and possible-navigator when his scythe wasn't in his hand.

A quick burst of Grim Mist revealed a sheathed Nodachi in his hand. The sheath was a beautiful obsidian color with a golden serpentine dragon wrapped around a red-eyed skull etched along the wood. The hilt was a dragon's head with an open mouth and the hilt was silver in color with a black diamond pattern. The tsuba looked like two silver chiropteran wings.

Zolo froze at the sight of the sword. _"It can't be."_ He thought.

Luffy slowly pulled the sword out to reveal an iron-black blade with glowing blood-red symbols etched on the lower part of the sword. The edge of the blade was also black but the light from the sun gave it a blood-red gleam when it reflected the light.

To Nami, Zolo looked like he was having trouble breathing. "That's a Saijo O Wazamono." He said.

"A what?" Nami asked.

"It's one of the Twelve Supreme Grade swords, the top twelve greatest swords in the world. Dracule "Hawk-eye" Mihawk wields the greatest and most powerful sword in the world. That sword in Luffy's hand is of the same grade as that sword. For him to wield it, means that he is a swordsman of renowned caliber. But I've never heard of him except for his reputation of being the Reaper of the Revolution, so there's no telling how strong he really is." Zolo explained.

"You should be proud." Luffy said to Buggy, who hadn't heard Zolo's explanation.

"What?" Buggy squawked.

"I don't just use this blade for anyone. I hope you can entertain him for a bit." Luffy said with a twirl of his sword.

Buggy just growled. "What will that black chunk of metal accomplish!? I can't be beaten by a sword!" He declared and separated his limbs. The individual body parts began to hover in a hyper-speed ring.

"**Chop-Chop Festival!"** He roared and the body parts flew at Luffy, who did nothing.

He grabbed the sword handle with both hands and dashed towards the swarm of limbs while whispering. **"Ittoryu: Lust Lightning Strike!"** Luffy became a blur and appeared behind Buggy. He summoned the sheath and twirled his blade around before slowly sheathing it. The entire time he spent sheathing the blade, Buggy reattached his body until he was whole again.

Once the sword was fully sheathed with a loud 'click' various cuts appeared along Buggy's body, causing blood to erupt from them like a sprinkler. The man's eyes rolled up into his head and he fell on his face.

"Not even worth taking you out for this. I'm sorry, Kusanagi." Luffy said to his sword before dismissing it.

Luffy walked over to his hat and gently picked it up. He looked over the holes with a blank face but Nami could tell he was near tears at the sight of his ruined treasure.

"I-I'm sorry, Luffy." She said.

"Don't worry a-about it." He said with his voice cracking slightly.

Nami looked at the hat in his hand with sudden determination. "I can fix it." She said suddenly.

Luffy looked at her confused and slightly hopeful.

"Yeah, I can fix this easy." She said again.

Luffy jumped up and hugged her while laughing in relief.

"Uh, Luffy, I think it's time to go." Zolo commented as he pointed at the town. Luffy put Nami down and they both saw the approaching mob.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed. They all grabbed a bag of treasure and the Buggy Ball before jumping into Buggy's life boats and casting off.

Though once Nami learned Luffy left a bag of treasure for the town, his screams were heard by the whole island.

A.N. Okay, that's all for the Nami chapter. I hope you all liked the new weapons and I hope I get some good reviews for this.


	3. The Sniper, The Cat, and the Reaper

Okay, I can't believe that the second chapter went so well. I'm sure some of you are questioning Kusanagi and it will be explained in this chapter as well as some of the specifics of the Grim-Grim fruit and its creation.

By the way, I'm not making a mistake with Zolo. The original One Piece that I used to watch referred to him as Zolo so that's what I call him.

One more thing, I forgot to put up a list of the girls in Luffy's harem, if I decide to go with it, so I'll do that right now.

Nami

Robin

Vivi

Boa Hancock

Margaret

Camie

Shirahoshi

I'll post any changes that come to mind later. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter.

I don't own One Piece.

(The middle of the ocean)

Luffy was laid against the mast of his and Zolo's life boat with his face comically swollen and Nami standing over him with her fist steaming due to the thrashing she gave the straw hat-wearing Reaper.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LEFT SOME OF MY MONEY BEHIND!" She roared with her "Demon Head".

"I can't believe you have that sword." Zolo commented.

Nami ignored him and glared at Luffy.

The boy held his hand up to his face and his palm seeped out his Grim Mist. The swelling went down and he regarded the two of them. "I'm sorry, Nami, but those people needed the money to repair the town. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time." He pleaded, holding his arms up to protect his face from any further abuse.

Nami growled for a moment before sighing and jumping onto her own life boat that was tied together with the boy's.

"Now that she's done, I have some questions." Zolo said.

Luffy got comfortable and turned his head to his first mate. "Shoot."

"How did you get that sword?" He asked.

Luffy held out his hand and Kusanagi appeared. He held out the handle to Zolo and the swordsman hesitated for a moment before drawing the Nodachi.

"Like you know, I was a part of the Revolutionary Army, the infamous Reaper of the Revolution. My master wielded that sword and he taught me how to use my scythe, my gunblades, and he helped me become an Ittoryu master in my own right. He was succumbing to a disease and gave it to me when I proved to him that I was strong enough to use it." He explained.

"What's the sword's history?" Nami asked curiously.

"The Kusanagi no Tsurugi was a sword wielded by ancient corrupt emperors, before the time of the World Government. It was used to slay a thousand innocent souls. It was supposedly cursed to take the lives of its wielders until the curse was broken by taking the lives of one thousand wicked souls. I intend to be the one to break this curse." He announced passionately.

"How did you beat Buggy? He couldn't be beaten by a normal swordsman." Zolo asked.

"Normally yes but you didn't take the correct approach. You tried to dice him into pieces. You should've done what I did and just cut him. Either make a lot of shallow cuts or a properly deep gash. He'd be able to separate his body but if you slash quickly enough, you can cut the pieces like I did." He explained.

Zolo gave the mighty blade another look before smiling proudly at being able to hold it. He re-sheathed it and Luffy dismissed the sword.

"Now I'd like to ask about that Devil Fruit. Can you tell me about the fruit you ate?" Nami suddenly asked.

Luffy grinned. "I ate the Grim-Grim Fruit. My mother was a Revolutionary scientist who specialized in the study of the Devil Fruits. She herself ate the Fuse-Fuse Fruit. It enabled her to divide items and fuse them together. She used the Revolutionary Army's resources to gather dozens of Devil Fruits. She used her own power to separate a part of the fruits and fused them all together into the Grim-Grim fruit. I don't even remember all of them; the Darkness-Darkness Fruit, the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, the Flare-Flare Fruit, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, the Steel-Steel Fruit, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit,, the Dice-Dice Fruit, the Whisper-Whisper Fruit, the Sickle-Sickle Fruit, the Munch-Munch Fruit, the Shade-Shade Fruit, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, and the Bird-Bird: Crow Model Fruit, to name a few." He explained.

**(A.N. I'll admit that I pulled one or two of those out of my ass but you should be able to figure out which ones they are.)**

"If you want the specifics, you'll have to ask my mom. That reminds me, I have to send her this cannonball." He said and took out the red Buggy ball.

Nami and Zolo were wide-eyed at the list of different powers Luffy had.

"How are you even alive right now!? All that power packed into one tiny little fruit shouldn't be possible!" Nami exclaimed.

Luffy ignored her for a moment and whistled sharply. After a moment, they heard a flock of birds above them.

"A-Are those crows?" Zolo asked.

"Like I said earlier, mom only used a bit of the fruits and merged the little pieces together to create the Grim-Grim Fruit. Crows are revered for being the carriers of souls to the afterlife and one of the Grim Reaper's animal avatars. The Whisper-Whisper Fruit allows me to communicate with and control them." He explained and held out his arms. The crows perched on his arms and the sides of the boats. Luffy grabbed some rope and tied it securely around the Buggy Ball along with a parchment signed,

_To: Mom_

_Love: Luffy_.

He held the cannonball out and three crows gripped the rope with their talons before the whole murder took to the sky.

"I'll admit. That was cool." Zolo commented randomly.

Luffy laughed at his first mate's words.

"But you should've told them to scout ahead for any nearby islands." Nami grumbled.

Luffy ignored her and decided to lay down for a nap.

(Many hours later)

Luffy was woken up by Nami poking his face.

"Wake up, Dead-man." She said in a mock soft voice.

Luffy jumped up suddenly, startling Nami and sending her to the ground.

"Are we at an island yet?" He loudly asked. Nami bopped him for startling her.

"We've got company." Zolo suddenly announced. Luffy responded by summoning his scythe until he raised a brow after looking up the cliff.

Dozens of white flags with black cartoonish skulls were waiving in the wind and human silhouettes could be seen. In the center of them was a man with brown overalls and a really long nose.

"I am Captain Usopp of the Usopp Pirates! This island houses my 800,000 men and if you pirates leave now, then you'll be spared my wrath." He yelled.

"The hell is this!?" Luffy exclaimed incredulously.

"I think it's a stand-up act." Zolo suggested.

"I'm with him." Nami agreed with Zolo.

Usopp face-faulted. Three other thuds were heard in the "crowd".

Usopp stood back up and pulled out a slingshot. "Didn't you hear what I said!?" He shouted. "Leave or suffer the consequences."

"Play along." Luffy whispered to his friends before glaring at Usopp with his serious face. "Put your life on the line!" Luffy shouted.

Usopp started in confusion.

"That little trinket in your hand isn't a toy to a real pirate. The moment you fire that thing, it's on." He announced and pointed his scythe at Usopp.

"That scythe has taken lives, "Captain" Usopp. He's a real pirate." Zolo said sinisterly.

Usopp shook and dropped his slingshot. "Alright. Do your worst." He muttered.

He was brought out of his fear-induced state by the three cackling loudly.

"_What the…?"_ He looked down at them and saw Luffy and Nami rolling on the ground and Zolo bent over holding his ribs as they all laughed until tears leaked from their eyes.

"Hahahaha. Hooh." Luffy sighed and stood up. He wiped the dust off his suit and helped Nami up before facing Usopp. "Your dad would be proud of you, Usopp." He said loudly.

Usopp's eyes widened in shock and he slid down the cliff to get closer to them. "What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Your dad's name is Yasopp, right?" Luffy asked.

Usopp chuckled in astonishment. "H-How do you know that?"

Luffy grinned. "Your dad's crew made my hometown their base for a few years. I've heard so many stories of you, I practically know you already." Luffy said.

Usopp began laughing in joy. He'd finally hear about his father. "Hey, why don't you three come into town with me? I can buy you lunch while you tell me about my dad." He offered.

Luffy shrieked like a monkey again and grabbed the three of them. Nami had been grabbed bridal style while Zolo was under his other arm and Usopp's overalls had been hooked by the back end of Luffy's Scythe sickle. He dashed through the forest towards the town with the three of them screaming and cursing at him.

(Some time later)

Luffy rubbed his over-inflated stomach in satisfaction. The four had eaten while Luffy happily told Usopp of his time with Yasopp and the Red-Hair Pirates

"Wow. My dad's the sniper of the "Red-Hair" Pirates. This is incredible! Thank you so much for telling me." Usopp exclaimed before he bowed in appreciation.

"Hey don't worry about it. Your dad told me so much about you, I knew who you were at first glance."

Usopp glanced at the wall and noticed the time. "Sorry guys gotta run. Tell the barkeep the tab's on me." He shouted before rushing out the door.

"Wonder what that's all about." Luffy said. The three sat there in silence until three little boys dashed up to them.

"What'd you do the Captain Usopp!?" They demanded.

One boy had lavender hair that covered his eyes and an orange bandana with the Usopp Pirate Jolly Roger on it. Another had sandy brown hair and wore glasses and the third had green hair.

A caw drew their attention to the window. A crow flew in and landed on Luffy's shoulder with a small bag in its beak. He grabbed the bag and opened it to reveal several cookies.

Luffy shrieked like a monkey again and dove for them but Nami's hands were quicker.

"Didn't you mother ever tell you to share!?" She roared and smashed his head into the table.

Luffy shook his head to clear the dizziness.

Zolo looked away from them to regard the kids. "As for your friend, he took off, saying he had to be somewhere." He said.

The three looked relieved. "He probably went to see Ms. Kaya." The glasses-wearing boy said.

"Who's that?" Nami asked as she ate a cookie. _"Wow. Luffy's mom makes a mean cookie."_ She thought before she grabbed another.

"Ms. Kaya's the lady who lives in the mansion on the hill. She's always sick from depression but the captain goes there to tell her stories and cheers her up."

Luffy looked interested.

"Maybe we can ask her for a ship?" Nami suggested.

"Normally I'd say no to asking a favor from a sick person but if Usopp cheers her up, then I can ask without feeling like a douche." He said and stood up.

Zolo and Nami followed the boy with the three kids following them.

(On the hill)

"-And once the giant goldfish realized I was there, it screeched like a banshee and swam away. Unfortunately, I got slingshotted off its fin and landed back on the island like I never left in the first place." Usopp finished narrating his story.

The woman before him was a beautiful girl near his own age. She had pale skin and pale blue eyes that shined with mirth as she laughed at Usopp's story.

Outside the compound, Luffy and his group had arrived but the guards had refused their entry.

"Well, we could knock 'em out." Zolo suggested.

"Oh yeah, and the lady'll happily give us a ship after we beat her bodyguards unconscious." Nami sarcastically said.

Before they could argue, Luffy spoke. "Nobody scream." He said before his Grim Mist billowed from the back of his jacket. The mist solidified into strands of cloth that wrapped around Nami's, Zolo's, and the children's waists and mouths to silence them.

"**Reaper Rocket!"** He shouted. He crouched down and his feet burst out his Grim Mist in a thruster-like fashion, which launched them all over the wall and into the complex.

Luffy chuckled at the horrified looks on his friend's faces.

"Who are you?" A voice from above him asked curiously. Luffy looked up and saw a pretty woman sticking her head out a window and Usopp sitting on a branch.

"Th-they're my new swabbies hoping to join my world-famous pirate crew." Usopp lied almost instinctively.

Luffy ignored him however. "My name's Monkey D. Luffy and I need to ask for your help." He said loudly.

"My help?" Kaya asked.

"Yes, we need-" Luffy was interrupted by a snide voice yelling at them.

"WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!?"

Luffy and his group turned their heads and saw a man with slicked-back green-black hair and round glasses over his dark eyes. He wore a black tuxedo with a white undershirt that had a weird spirally collar. Luffy had to hold in his laughter at the sight of the funny-looking black and gray striped shoes.

"Klahadore, these people are friends of Usopp. They're welcome here just like he is." Kaya reprimanded.

"Usopp is a pirate's son, Milady, so forgive me if I don't roll out the red carpet." He stated sarcastically.

Luffy narrowed his eyes at the man. _"The name doesn't sound familiar but I recognize that face."_ He thought.

"Sorry, guys, he's Kaya's butler. A real kill-joy." Usopp introduced.

"Silence, you filthy sea-urchin. I knew I should've increased security." Klahadore muttered darkly and pressed his palm to the bottom of his glasses to put them back over his nose.

Luffy's eyes widened briefly in mild panic before he forced himself to be nonchalant.

"Klahadore! Stop that!" Kaya demanded.

"Apologies, miss. But I don't approve of your friendship with this pirate spawn." He said.

"What the hell was that!?" Usopp demanded as he jumped off the branch. He got in Klahadore's face with an angry arch in his brow.

The butler adopted the same look. "I said that I don't approve the lady's friendship with the son of a filthy pirate!" He exclaimed. Usopp angrily grabbed the man's collar and glared into his face.

"My father is a brave warrior of the sea! I don't care that he calls himself a pirate, I'm proud to be his son. One day, I'll brave the seas under a Jolly Roger and be known throughout the world as "Captain Usopp, the greatest and bravest sea warrior ever!"" He declared. He shoved Klahadore away and turned to leave.

"Usopp, wait!" Kaya called.

Usopp kept walking until Klahadore spoke again. "More like the greatest liar." He growled.

Usopp turned with a growl but stopped at the sight before him. Luffy had appeared behind him and was holding his scythe at the man's neck.

"Say another bad word about Yasopp or his son and I'll carve you into pieces." He said sinisterly.

His scythe vanished in a burst of Grim Mist.

Luffy leaned in close to the man's ear. "Remember me? Captain Kitty?"

Klahadore's eye's widened and his pupils dilated before he glared at Luffy with hatred and turned to leave.

Luffy glanced at Kaya and tipped his hat off to her. "I'll speak with you later, hopefully." He said and left.

Nami looked at him questioningly when she saw his serious face. "Lu-"

"Not here. Once we get somewhere private, we need to talk." He said gravely.

Usopp realized the seriousness of the boy's voice. He barely knew him but he knew that he was to be obeyed when he spoke in that voice. He motioned for them to follow and he lead the pirates, the thief, and the kids through the forest.

(At the Cliffside)

"What's so important, it had to be spoken in private?" Zolo asked impatiently.

"Does the name "Kuro of 100 plans" ring any bells?" He asked anyone in general.

Nobody answered for a moment until Nami spoke up. "He was the captain of the Black Cat pirates and a master tactician." She answered.

"Was?" Usopp asked.

"He was executed three years ago." Nami answered.

Luffy looked thoughtful, a look which everyone silently agreed did not suit him.

"You're half right, Nami. He was a pirate captain and a master tactician but he apparently wasn't executed." Luffy said.

"What do you mean?" The kids asked.

"That butler is Kuro, not Klahadore." He announced.

There was silence for a moment until Usopp began laughing as well as the kids.

"That's a good one, Luffy. Klahadore's a dick but he's not a pirate." He chuckled.

Luffy didn't look amused. "Has he always fixed his glasses with his palm?" He asked seemingly randomly.

"Yeah, so what?" Usopp asked.

"The reason he does that is because he doesn't want to scratch his lenses with his claws. Kuro's weapons are a pair of fuzzy gloves with katana blades attached to the tips of the fingers. He calls them the "Cat Claws" for that reason." Luffy explained.

"How could you possibly know that?" Zolo asked.

"Because I was sent to try and recruit him into the Revolutionary Army four years ago. I met this guy face-to-face and he said no. I also know that his first-mate was a master hypnotizer-"

"Hypnotist." Nami interrupted.

"Whatever. He must've hypnotized someone to take his place when he was caught."

"Wait a minute, you're a Revolutionary!?" Usopp interrupted.

"I was." Luffy answered before turning back to Zolo and Nami. "Whatever his plan for being here is, he's got back-ups but he didn't count on us being here."

"So what? You want us to stop him? What's in it for us?" Nami asked.

Luffy glared at her and Nami felt like a child under his glare, which was weird in her opinion, since he was more childish than her. "That man has fooled these people into thinking he is a mild-mannered butler when he's really a blood-thirsty monster. I may be a pirate but I'd never let innocent people get hurt if I could help it." He said with passion.

Nami felt a flutter in her stomach after hearing him speak like that.

"Those claws I was talking about weren't for show. He's really fast and those things are sharp. Me being here probably made him speed up his plans, whatever they were."

He suddenly froze and looked at the bottom of the cliff. "Strike that, his plans are definitely sped up." He said and pointed to the little beach below.

The others followed his finger and saw Klahadore/Kuro speaking with a man wearing a dark blue coat and fedora. He also wore a pair of sunglasses that were heart-shaped.

"That's Jango, the first mate of the Black Cat pirates and a master hypnotizer-

"Hypnotist." Nami interrupted again.

"I swear I'm gonna slap you before this is over but whatever, he uses chakrams to hypnotize and he's a master at throwing the damn things." Luffy said.

The group watched as the two spoke.

"So are the preparations complete?" Klahadore/Kuro asked the man.

"No problem, Captain Kuro. We can start anytime." Jango said with a nod.

"We'll need to start sooner than planned. That revolutionary boy from four years ago is here on the island and he knows who I am. I'll have to take care of him myself while the crew ravages the town and you assassinate lady Kaya." Kuro said.

"ASSASSIN-" Usopp began to shout but Luffy pulled him back down and covered his mouth. Luckily, the two didn't hear him.

"Y-you mean the Reaper? I-I thought he vanished last year." Jango shouted in a panic.

Kuro slapped him on the back of the head. "Calm down, you idiot. I'll deal with him. You just hypnotize the girl to leave me her fortune in her will and then kill her. Go get the crew, we're attacking today." He growled and the two broke away and went their separate ways.

Luffy pulled everyone away from the cliff side. Usopp immediately broke away and ran towards town with a determined look on his face.

"Dammit!" Luffy cursed as Usopp vanished from his sight.

"Orders, Captain?" Zolo asked.

"We can't let them get away with this. Zolo, you and I will deal with Kuro and his crew."

"What do I do?" Nami asked.

"Whatever the hell you want. I'm not your captain." Luffy said.

"What about us?" The boys yelled.

"You know Usopp the best, what's he up to?"

"He's probably gone to tell the town and Miss Kaya about Kuro."

Luffy's eyes widened. "Dammit! Go and stop him! He's the town liar and they'll probably get violent when he tells them about Kuro." He said. The kids started and ran off.

"You two get to town and get some oil." Luffy said to his friends. They nodded and ran off to town.

Luffy glanced at the dinghy with Jango on it and whistled. After a moment, a crow landed on Luffy's shoulder. He pointed at Jango and regarded the crow.

"Follow him." He ordered. The crow cawed and took off.

(Meanwhile)

Kuro entered the mansion and saw a man with a tuxedo and sheep-like hair, complete with a pair of horns on his head.

"Did anything happen while I was out?" Kuro asked.

"That ruffian, Usopp, caused a stir earlier claiming that you were a pirate and even came to the Mansion to take Miss Kaya away. It was all a very stupid joke." Merry said as he lifted his arms in exasperation.

Kuro adjusted his glasses and narrowed his eyes. "That's right… a stupid joke," A wrapped gift then caught his eye. "What's this?"

"Hmm?" Merry looked over at Klahadore and smiled brightly. "Oh, That's a present from Kaya to you. Tomorrow will be the 3rd anniversary since you arrived at this mansion."

"Yes… a day to remember." Kuro unwrapped the present and pulled out a new pair of glasses.

"Lady Kaya special ordered them for you. Your glasses are always falling off and so she got a specially fitted pair for you to replace your old pair with. Such a kind thing to do." Merry shed some tears at his mistresses' kindness and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe them away.

Kuro's expression darkened extremely as he turned around to face Merry. "Today is going to be a day to remember," Merry was shocked to see such blatant rage on the normally kind man's face.

Merry was about to ask Klahadore what was wrong when the other man stepped on his present and destroyed the glasses inside.

"Klahadore, what is the meaning of this! Why would you destroy your present?" Merry demanded.

"I will get my present." Kuro ground his foot into the remaining shards. "But it will be this mansion, not a pair of stupid glasses!" Merry was beyond shock now, "I don't have to pretend anymore because in a few more hours that insufferable brat will experience… an accident," Kuro took a step forward and adjusted his glasses, "Three years truly is a long time to wait."

"Lady Kaya, you must esca-" Merry was a bloody mess on the floor before he could finish trying to warn Kaya.

(Later that afternoon, north coast)

Jango stood before a large mob of pirates all wearing cat-ears on their heads and striped shirts.

"Let's rock, you crazy cats. Remember that captain will kill us if we fail." Jango shouted and the crew cheered.

"And I'll kill you if you try in the first place." A voice shouted from up the hill.

All the Black Cat Pirates looked up the hill and saw a young man in a tuxedo with a straw hat on his head and beside him was a man with a white shirt and blackish green pants and three swords at his waist.

Jango looked at them with irritation and a sense of familiarity. "You in the suit, do I know you?" He yelled.

Luffy answered by holding out his hand and summoning his scythe.

Jango and the Black Cats all paled when they realized who he was.

"The Reaper of the Revolution!"

"The Dark Death!"

"The Straw-hat Gunslinger!"

"The Sin-Slayer!"

They all shouted Luffy's various names with fear.

"How the hell many names do you go by?" Zolo asked.

"Too many." Luffy answered.

"C-C-Captain, what do we do!?" One of them screamed.

Jango took out a chakram attached to a string and let it dangle back and forth. "Alright, when I say "Jango" you will be stronger and faster. You will feel no pain and know no fear. 1…2…Jango!" He said.

A few moments passed and nothing happened. The crew suddenly threw their heads back and roared like savage beasts. Their eyes had rolled back into their heads revealing only the whites.

They all charged up the slope with murder in their eyes.

Luffy grabbed the shaft of his scythe. "I'll take the small-fry; deal with any who get past me." Luffy ordered before charging towards the incoming mob.

"Hey, that's not right, leaving me with the crappy job." Zolo complained.

Luffy ignored him and dragged the point of his sickle on the ground, leaving a gash in his wake.

"**Shadow Scythe Storm!"** He roared and slashed his scythe with such speed that it appeared as multiple thin black blurs.

Several dozen pirates suddenly gained deep lacerations along their torsos and limbs.

(In the bushes)

"Holy shit! He's awesome." Usopp whispered. Nami nodded beside him.

(Back at the fight)

Jango sweat slightly at the sight of his crew falling like dominos from the two Straw-hats.

"Buchi! Sham! We need you!" He yelled.

From the ship, two men peeped over the helm. One was an obese man with a blanket-like cape and the other was skinny with a hunched over stature.

Both had cat-eyes, ears, fangs, and gloves with claws.

"What's up, cap?" Buchi asked.

"Captain Kuro miscalculated. Deal with them!" He commanded.

"Dibs!" Zolo shouted.

"Dammit!" Luffy whined and walked behind Zolo on the slope before he slumped down.

Zolo smirked victoriously as he strolled to the ship.

"B-But Captain, we're just ship guards." Sham whined. Nonetheless, the two hopped off the ship and charged towards Zolo.

(Elsewhere)

Kaya exited her room, after she finished crying. Usopp had left a short time ago, telling her horrible things about Klahadore and she refused to believe him.

She reached the dining room and knocked on the door to see if the caretaker was there.

"Klahadore?" She asked as she opened the doors.

She was greeted by the sight of Merry's bleeding body on the ground.

"Me-Merry!" Tears immediately welled in her eyes and she rushed to his side rolling him over onto his back. "Merry, what happened? Merry!?"

"M-M-Miss K-Kaya! I'm so glad you're safe." Merry smiled at seeing his mistress safe.

"Merry, what happened?" Kaya repeated her question.

"Klahadore… Usopp was telling the truth. Klahadore is really… a Pirate. He… He tried to kill me!"

"What is this? You're lying!" Kaya couldn't believe that kind Klahadore would ever hurt anyone, let alone try to kill someone.

"He's a Pirate, Milady! Usopp and that Straw-hat boy were the only ones to know and he tried to warn us even though no one believed him. We trusted the wrong person! We chased him out of the village and… and I shot him! He's a brave young man who tried to protect our village!" Merry weeped as he realized what he'd done and the danger he'd put his mistress in by not listening to Usopp.

Kaya could feel a cold sweat wrack her body, "_You'll understand tonight but you have to leave now. Klahadore is really a Pirate! He's going to kill you!_" Usopp's words wouldn't stop ringing in her head. She didn't believe him and even slapped him for lying about Klahadore, "What have I done?"

Merry began to cough violently as he pushed himself up, "Merry! Is anyone else around?" Kaya yelled out for help.

"It's useless Miss Kaya. Everyone left for vacation yesterday," Merry paused in his struggle to inform Kaya that they were alone.

"What?" Kaya was shocked. Could Klahadore have planned them to be gone?

"Please calm down. Nothing has happened yet. I've… been listening for any screams or shouts but it's been quiet. I think… something is holding Klahadore's crew back. I saw that treacherous bastard leave the Mansion which means he went to get them. He will bring them back and not only us but the entire village will be destroyed. If… if it's treasure that he's after just give it to him. It's not worth your life. You're… you're the only one that can stop him now." Merry groaned after he had managed to sit himself against one of the walls as he instructed Kaya on what to do.

Kaya brushed her tears away and nodded her approval, "I'll do… what I can, Merry. Just please don't die!" With that Kaya rushed off in search of Klahadore/Kuro.

(Back to the fight)

Zolo had struck against the two cat men, thinking it would be an easy fight but he was only able to draw one sword due to the skinny one surprising him and taking his other swords.

"_He took Kuina's sword!_" He thought vengefully.

"Ahahahahaha! What's the matter, little moss head?" Sham cackled. "Upset that you fell for our little kitty routine?"

"We may be the ship guards but that doesn't mean we're really weak." Buchi shouted as he charged at Zolo.

Zolo cursed as he blocked each of the swipes.

"_Dammit! I'm not good enough with Ittoryu."_ He mentally cursed.

Luffy watched his first mate fight while picking his nose. _"I should probably throw him a bone."_ He thought. He stopped his digging and summoned Kusanagi.

"Zolo, incoming!" He shouted and slung the sheath, sending Kusanagi towards the swordsman.

Almost instinctively, Zolo lashed his right arm out and grasped the handle.

The two ship guards widened their eyes in sudden fright.

"Thanks, Luffy!" He shouted and adopted a Nitoryu stance. Both swords were held in front of him, pointing up.

"**Nitoryu: Rhino Rampage!"** He said and dashed at the two. He rolled in mid-air, creating momentum before he appeared behind the two brothers with his other katanas in hand. The two brothers stood there for a moment before blood burst from their torsos and they fell forward, dead.

Zolo looked at Kusanagi, which seemed to shake slightly in his hand. _"Thank you for your help."_ He mentally said. The blade ringed in response.

He walked up to Luffy and sheathed the sword.

"He's a little awkward. But I was only trained to use a katana, not a Nodachi." He said casually.

Luffy grinned in response before dismissing Kusanagi.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" A voice roared from the top of the slope.

Luffy glanced at the top of the hill and saw Kuro standing there with his hands in his pockets and a long rectangular box under his arm.

"I guess the Black Cat pirates are weaker than I thought." He whispered furiously.

Luffy stood and stretched before turning towards the former captain.

The crew all shouted at the man for the insult.

Kuro said nothing as he opened the case and slipped on a pair of gloves with the katana blades on the tip of the fingers.

"_Oh shit! Stealth Foot!"_ Jango thought fearfully as he inched closer to the ship.

Kuro slouched and seemed to vanish from sight. Mere moments later, the Black Cat Pirates began screaming as random crewmembers suddenly gained five deep lacerations across their bodies.

"_What the hell!? He's really that fast?"_ Zolo thought.

Luffy's eyes darted around rapidly, trying to find the deranged captain.

Kuro stopped dead in the center of his former crew and adjusted his glasses. "I'll admit, I've gotten slower in the three years I've been caring for that weak little brat but I haven't forgotten how to kill my enemies or to sever loose ends." He said with a sinister smirk.

He drew his arm back and slashed towards another pirate.

Luffy narrowed his eyes and teleported behind the butler.

Kuro's claws struck against Luffy's scythe and couldn't advance to the shaking crew-man.

"What kind of a captain would attack his own crew?" Luffy demanded. His hat had covered his eyes from view but Kuro could literally feel the rage seeping from his form.

"The kind who feels they have outlived their usefulness." Kuro answered.

The next thing he knew, he had been kicked into the slope wall. He glared at Luffy but had to duck under the slash of his scythe, which left a gash in the wall.

Luffy raised his head to reveal his black eyes, the Eyes of Death, himself.

"**For you to openly admit something like that tells me you aren't even a true Pirate. I don't understand why the Revolution tried to recruit someone like you."** Luffy spat in a deep voice that seemed to echo across the void of life and death itself.

Kuro shuddered slightly but continued his assault against the Reaper. "I couldn't care less about your little spat with the World Government. I already had my "retirement" planned and wasn't about to ruin it. Speaking of that, Jango!" He shouted.

The hypnotist started but stood straight.

"Go fulfill your mission or I'll kill you next!" He commanded.

The fight was halted by a woman's voice.

"Klahadore!" Everyone looked up at the top of the slope and saw Kaya standing there, panting for breath with a flushed face.

"Damn!" Kuro ground out before Luffy was on him again. He dodged and ducked each slash from the large scythe.

Kaya moved to approach but Jango appeared in front of her.

"Sorry, little missy but you and I got a date." He said darkly and spun a chakram around his finger.

Luffy noticed this from the corner of his eye and managed to knock Kuro away for a moment. He took the chance and pulled a Velvet Nightmare from his blazer but Kuro appeared before him again and knocked the Gunblade out of his hand. The weapon stabbed into the ground in front of Kaya and made Jango jump away in fright.

"Dammit! Watch it Cap'n! That thing almost speared me." He shouted.

Kaya took a chance and grabbed the gun and shakily aimed it at Kuro. "Klahadore, what's going on!? You attacked Merry and you're fighting with that man." She demanded.

"Kaya, what are you doing here!? You've got to leave!" Usopp screamed before he stood between her and Jango.

"I need answers, Usopp. If you want money, then take all of it, Klahadore. Just leave this island and never return." She shouted.

Her voice echoed through the slope and it halted Luffy's assault for a moment to gauge Kuro's reaction.

His posture was slouched over with his face covered in shadow, leaving his glasses to reflect the sunlight.

"I want the money, yes, but I also grew tired of the unnecessary hardships of the pirate life. I want peace and serenity more than the money." He said as he pressed his glasses back into place. "I spent three years wiping your nose as a pathetic butler so I could gain the trust of the townspeople. So when I acquire your fortune it wouldn't be arousing suspicion." He announced with no emotion on his face.

Usopp was shaking in rage and Zolo growled from his seated position against a tree.

"Y-Y-YOU SICK BASTARD!" Usopp seethed before charging with his slingshot loaded with a pellet.

He was stopped by the madman wrapping his fingers around Usopp's head from behind. The five blades glinted dangerously in his sight.

"You were merely an irritation before. A little boy crying wolf and was soon to be outcasted by the town. Your friendship with Kaya amused me. Now though, you have become a liability. And if there's anything I'm good at, it's cutting loose ends." He said and raised his free hand.

"NOOOO!" Kaya screamed and closed her eyes. Her finger flexed and fired Luffy's Gunblade.

Kuro narrowly ducked under the strangely red-glowing projectile before he was sucker-punched by an enraged Luffy straight down the slope and into the docked ship. Jango tried swiping with his chakram but it went through Luffy's body. The Reaper turned towards the hypnotist and swung his scythe, hooking the man and sending him flying to the distance.

Luffy seethed in rage at the man's words and raised his head. He faced Usopp and smiled warmly, still scaring them all due to his black eyes. **"You actually showed true bravery, Usopp. I knew I was right in wanting you on my crew."** He said.

Usopp started. "Y-You mean you-?"

"**I was gonna ask after taking this ass out but now seems a good a time as any."** Luffy casually stated with a grin.

A shuffling sound drew their attention to the ship where Kuro was pulling himself up.

"**Get her out of here, Usopp. She doesn't need to see this."** Luffy said before dismissing his scythe.

"What are you gonna do, Luffy?" He asked.

Luffy held out his left hand and summoned Kusanagi. **"Give him a reason to fear the Reaper. Now go!"** He ordered. He slowly unsheathed the mighty blade, the ominous red light shimmering in the sun.

Usopp's face hardened before he nodded and took Luffy's Gunblade from Kaya's shaking grip. He handed the weapon to Nami and took Kaya away.

Kuro snarled at the two before glaring hatefully at Luffy. "You were an irritation before, you pest. Now you've ruined three years of my plans." He seethed.

Luffy twirled Kusanagi no Tsurugi and gripped the handle with both hands. **"I've had enough of your bullshit, Kuro. The Reaper has come for your soul and it shall be taken."** Luffy said ominously as wisps of Grim Mist began seeping from his body.

Nami's mind was boggling. This wasn't Luffy. This was not the fun-loving, gluttonous buffoon that she had come to like. This was the Grim Reaper, the spirit of Death itself in human skin, an immortal, malevolent entity that would take a life without prejudice and then return to sleep, leaving Luffy to deal with the aftermath until it was needed again.

Zolo was equally stunned. This Luffy was the Reaper, the monster that made hardcore Marine fighters soil themselves in total fear. Never had he felt such fear until now, in the presence of his own captain. But with that fear, came absolute awe and respect worthy of a man of his skill and power.

Kuro stood up and slouched over with a sinister smirk on his face. "I never thought I'd have to use this attack on a single person but you've proven to be worth using it." He said and started swaying left and right like a drunk on his feet.

Luffy's eyes remained locked on him.

"**Cat-out-of-the-bag attack!"** Kuro suddenly vanished from sight and a series of five gashes were carved in the ground and walls.

Zolo grunted. _"He's moving too fast for me to follow. But those gashes aren't following a pattern, like he's just striking randomly. Wait, he said he never thought he'd use the attack on a __single__ person. That's an attack meant specifically for multiple enemies so he can't really control where he attacks."_ He thought in a panic. He turned to Nami. "We have to leave before his attack hits us." He said.

"W-What!?" Nami asked.

"He can't control where his attack hits, so he might hit us by accident." He said urgently. He was frozen by the sound of the ground getting carved up right next to him.

Nami shrieked at how close it was and helped Zolo to his feet.

Luffy noticed the two leaving to a safer spot but ignored them to focus on Kuro. None of the slashes managed to strike him yet and Luffy had already figured out that they were random.

"_**Now how do I strike back?"**_ He wondered. Luffy closed his eyes, waiting for the right time.

He suddenly snapped his eyes open and slashed his sword to his right and the black sword struck against Kuro's claws. The man, himself, was wide-eyed in shock.

"H-How did you know where I was!?" He demanded.

"**Nothing exists that can outrun Death."** Was all Luffy said before redirecting the claws downward and lifting his foot. He slammed his heel on Kuro's hand, spearing the claws into the ground before kicking the hand again, breaking the blades from the glove. He whirled around again and kicked Kuro's face, shattering the glasses and sending him into the wall.

Kuro shook off the dizziness before he vanished again.

Luffy held Kusanagi in front of his face and uttered to himself.

"**Ittoryu: Sloth Bide."**

He held that pose for what seemed like an eternity to Nami and Zolo but he suddenly held the sword up before he slashed downwards.

Nami and Zolo saw a geyser of blood fly through the air.

Kuro's body had been sliced clean in two from the head to the pelvis.

Nami quickly covered her mouth to stop the bile from escaping her.

Luffy raised his head, revealing the blood splatter on his front and his normal eyes. Only instead of the happy and curious gleam, there was only sadness and a trace of regret.

He slashed Kusanagi, slinging the blood off and sheathed the blade. "Number 937." He said before dismissing the sword.

Luffy moved his neck to pop the bones before turning to Zolo and Nami.

"It's over." Was all he said before he fell forward on his face.

Nami rushed over and turned him over, seeing he was merely sleeping.

Her hand unconsciously went to her shoulder. _"Could he really be the one who can help me?"_ She thought before she hauled him up and took him towards Zolo.

A.N: The ending might've been a bit abrupt but I have an explanation for Luffy's state in the next chapter.

By the way, yes, all of Luffy's Ittoryu attacks will be named after the Seven Sins. I'm still trying to figure some of them out so if you have any suggestions, feel free to throw them out there.

Complaints? Reviews? Concerns? Whatever you got, let me have it.


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